Udo Beyer
Encyclopedia
Udo Beyer is a former East German track and field
Track and field
Track and field is a sport comprising various competitive athletic contests based around the activities of running, jumping and throwing. The name of the sport derives from the venue for the competitions: a stadium which features an oval running track surrounding a grassy area...

 athlete who competed in the shot put
Shot put
The shot put is a track and field event involving "putting" a heavy metal ball—the shot—as far as possible. It is common to use the term "shot put" to refer to both the shot itself and to the putting action....

.

Life

Beyer is the oldest of the six children of heating mechanic Hans-Georg Beyer and his wife Eva-Marie and was born in Stalinstadt, today Eisenhüttenstadt
Eisenhüttenstadt
Eisenhüttenstadt is a town in the Oder-Spree district of Brandenburg, Germany at the border with Poland. The town was founded in 1950 alongside a new steel mill as a socialist model city and has a population of 32,214...

. He grew up in Breslack, (today the municipality of Neißemünde
Neißemünde
Neißemünde is a municipality in the Oder-Spree district, in Brandenburg, Germany. It belongs to the Amt Neuzelle, which has its seat in the Neuzelle municipality.-Geography:...

), and in Eisenhüttenstadt. Like all of his siblings, he played handball
Team handball
Handball is a team sport in which two teams of seven players each pass a ball to throw it into the goal of the other team...

 at the local sport club. He was a member of the team representing the district in Frankfurt where he became a successful goalkeeper. On the advice of his father he decided to pursue a sporting career, concentrating on athletics. After the youth tournament in 1969, he changed to the youth sports school in Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt (Oder)
Frankfurt is a town in Brandenburg, Germany, located on the Oder River, on the German-Polish border directly opposite the town of Słubice which was a part of Frankfurt until 1945. At the end of the 1980s it reached a population peak with more than 87,000 inhabitants...

, where he earned his Abitur
Abitur
Abitur is a designation used in Germany, Finland and Estonia for final exams that pupils take at the end of their secondary education, usually after 12 or 13 years of schooling, see also for Germany Abitur after twelve years.The Zeugnis der Allgemeinen Hochschulreife, often referred to as...

. At the same time he became a member of ASK Vorwärts Frankfurt. In 1970 Ernst Kühl
Ernst Kühl
Dr. jur. Ernst Kühl was a highly decorated Oberst der Reserves in the Luftwaffe during World War II, and one of only 882 recipients of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross with Oak Leaves. The Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and its higher grade Oak Leaves was awarded to recognise extreme...

 became his trainer, himself a successful shot putter and discus thrower for East Germany. Kühl had taken part in the 1960 and 1964 unified German team at the Summer Olympic games. In 1973 Beyer changed clubs as well as coaches moving to ASK Vorwärts Potsdam under Lothar Hillebrand. In Potsdam
Potsdam
Potsdam is the capital city of the German federal state of Brandenburg and part of the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region. It is situated on the River Havel, southwest of Berlin city centre....

 he concentrated solely on the shot put and began also studying at the University to become a physical education teacher. As a member of the Army sports club (ASK) Beyer was also a sports officer of the NVA and had also become Hauptmann
Hauptmann
Hauptmann is a German word usually translated as captain when it is used as an officer's rank in the German, Austrian and Swiss armies. While "haupt" in contemporary German means "main", it also has the dated meaning of "head", i.e...

 (Captain) in the Bundeswehr
Bundeswehr
The Bundeswehr consists of the unified armed forces of Germany and their civil administration and procurement authorities...

. His sport career was essentially over after the 1988 Summer Olympic games, but his wife was able to convince him in 1990 to continue until 1992.

For many years, Beyer was captain of the East German athletics national team.

At a height of 1.94 meters, he weighed 130 kilograms. Even for a shot putter, Beyer was exceptionally strong.

At the end of his sport career, Beyer started work as a travel agent and has owned a travel agency in Potsdam since 1996. He lives in Potsdam and has been married since 1976 and has had two daughters, one of whom died as a child.

All of his siblings were very active in sports. At the Summer Olympics of 1980 in Moscow, Udo was with his sister Gisela Beyer
Gisela Beyer
Gisela Beyer is a retired East German discus thrower.She finished fourth at the 1980 Summer Olympics, fourth at the 1982 European Championships and fifth at the 1983 World Championships...

 and his brother Hans-Georg Beyer
Hans-Georg Beyer
Hans-Georg Beyer is a former East German handball player who competed in the 1980 Summer Olympics....

. All three reached their respective final rounds: Hans-Georg was Olympic champion with his handball team, Udo was third in the shot put and Gisela was fourth in the discus. His sister Gudrun was also with him at the 1992 Summer Olympics in Barcelona, as a physical therapist.

Since 2004 Beyer is also the "Chocolate Ambassador" for Germany's oldest chocolate factory, Halloren of Halle (Saale). He is also very active as an official representative for the "children's hospice of middle Germany" for terminally ill children and their families.

Results

Together with his long time East German teammate Ulf Timmermann
Ulf Timmermann
Ulf Timmermann is a German shot putter who broke many world records during the 1980s and is the first and one of only two people to ever throw over 23 metres ....

he dominated ten years of competitions in his discipline.

Olympic Games
  • 1976 - Olympic Champion
  • 1980 - Bronze medal
  • 1984 - did not participate due to boycott
  • 1988 – Fourth place
  • 1992 - eliminated during qualification


Records
World records:
  1. August 6, 1978: 22.15 m
  2. July 25, 1983: 22.22 m
  3. April 20, 1986: 22.64 m (7th place on the world best list as of 2006)


Junior-European records:
6.25 kg-shot (Junior-shot)
  1. July 13, 1973: 21.03 m

7,26 kg-shot (Men's-shot)
  1. July 7, 1973: 19.63 m
  2. July 6, 1974: 20.20 m
  3. June 21, 1975: 20.97 m (Current Record, as of August 7, 2005)


European-Championships
  • 1973 - Junior-European champion
  • 1974 - 8th place
  • 1978 - European champion
  • 1982 - European champion
  • 1986 - Bronze medal
  • 1974 - 6th place


IAAF-World cup, Shot put
  • 1977, 1979 and 1981 – Winner


European cup, shot put
  • 1977, 1979 and 1981 – Winner
  • 1985 - 3rd place


East German-Championships
  • 1974 - 2nd place
  • 1977-1987 - GDR-champion (11 consecutive times)
  • 1988 – 2nd place
  • 1990 – 3rd place
  • 1980 – GDR-Indoor champion


Children- and Youth Spartakiade
  • 1972 - Spartakiade winner

Honors

  • 1978 – GDR Sportsman of the year
  • 2 times patriotic earnings/service medal in Silver
  • 7 times Champion of Sport
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